Chartbusters USA 1 / Various

Chartbusters USA 1 / Various

Conceived as a counterpart to Golden Age of American Rock'n'Roll, Ace's excellent anthology series covering the first decade of U.S. rock, Chartbusters USA does the same thing for American rock spanning 1964-69. It's perhaps less valuable than the Golden Age series because the material anthologized, at least to judge by the first installment, is somewhat less difficult to acquire, or hear on oldies radio, than the Golden Age stuff. There's no conceptual thread running through the selections, except general top-of-the-line quality: you get "California Dreamin'," "Dance to the Music," "Hi Heel Sneakers," "Brown Eyed Girl," "Walk Away Renee," "Psychotic Reaction," and "Green Tambourine" right next to each other. The only truly hard-to-find item is the Soul Sisters' mid-chart soul hit "I Can't Stand It" (covered by the Spencer Davis Group), though some of these hits, like "Elusive Butterfly" (Bob Lind), "G.T.O." (Ronny & the Daytonas), and the original 1965 hit version of Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About a Mover," don't turn up on various-artists collections often. Still, if you're seeking a wall-to-wall blast of mid-and-late 1960s classic American rock singles, it's real good value, with 30 songs, nearly every one a classic. Hugo Montenegro's "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" seems an odd choice in the midst of a very rock-oriented disc, though. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide